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March 5th, 2013 
David Schulberg the 3rd
Later in the call, Ms Halvorson asked, “Is there a gardener? Any staff,
anyone who doesn’t work for you? Anywhere? Can we flag someone down in the
street and get them to help this lady? Can we flag a stranger down? I bet a
stranger would help her.
“I understand if your facility is not willing to do that. Give the phone
to a passer-by. This woman is not breathing enough. She is going to die if
we don’t get this started, do you understand?”
The woman had no pulse and was not breathing when fire crews reached her.
Sgt Jason Matson of the Bakersfield Police Department said its investigation
so far had not revealed criminal wrongdoing, but the probe is continuing.
State officials did not know Monday whether the woman who talked to the
emergency dispatcher actually was a nurse, or just identified herself as one
during the call. She said one of the home’s policies prevented her from
doing CPR, according to an audio recording of the call.
“The consensus is if they are a nurse and if they are at work as a nurse,
then they should be offering the appropriate medical care,” said Russ
Heimerich, spokesman for the California Board of Registered Nursing, the
agency that licenses health care providers.
The executive director of Glenwood Gardens, Jeffrey Toomer, defended the nurse
in a written statement, saying she followed the facility’s policy.
“In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community,
our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for
assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such
personnel arrives,” Mr Toomer said. “That is the protocol we
followed.”
The home, which offers many levels of care, is like a senior apartment
complex, state officials said.
Independent living facilities “should not have a policy that says you can
stand there and watch somebody die,” said Pat McGinnis, founder of
California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, a consumer advocacy group. “How
a nurse can do that is beyond comprehension.”
In all her years of advocating for the elderly, Ms McGinnis said: “This
was so horrifying. I’ve never seen this happen before.”
Source: AP
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